Corey

My brother Corey is someone who has changed my life completely. Corey is 22 years old and he is special needs. He has a rare genetic condition and basically, he has the mental capacity of a 6-month year old. But despite all that he goes through on a daily basis he is one of the happiest and loving people on this planet. He teaches me more and more all the time and especially as I get older, I realize the severity of the lessons that I learn from him.
Corey’s syndrome is called Phelan McDermid Syndrome. It is a rare deletion of his 22nd chromosome. Basically, all that means is he is special needs and he is technically. classified under Autism. He cannot talk, he wears diapers, and cannot do everyday things for himself. He must have a caregiver with him 24 hours a day. Normally he had nurses with him because along with his syndrome comes seizures and other medical problems. Corey is very prone to infections and he gets extremely sick very easily.
I can remember when I was little always having nursing staff in my house with us for the majority of my childhood. It was annoying to have them around all the time, but it really helped my mom out. But as time went on and Corey got bigger and stronger it was getting hard to keep him at home with us. My mom ended up putting him in a group home when he was 19. It was hard for us to trust other people with him because my mom knew when things were wrong so easily, but it was just too much to keep doing on her own especially when I would go to college.
Now Corey has been in his group home for 3 years and he loves it! I think that he needed to be on his own, but don’t worry my mom brings him home almost every other weekend. He has amazing roommates that he gets along with that are his age and on his level. He graduated high school last year and “works” now during the day. The staff at his house are the best and love him so much and he loves them. It makes my mom and I really at ease and happy to see him thriving.
I have learned a lot from having a special needs brother. I wanted to go to school to be a special education teacher, but I think it hits too close to home for me. But I really love working with kids like Corey they are so special. It has taught me that you are giving the opportunity to do things that others can’t and you need to act upon that. Not everyone gets to drive a car, or go to school, or make friends the way that typical people do. You have to respect that, and you can’t waist the life that you are giving. If you’re not going to do great things for yourself, then do it for the people that don’t have that choice.

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